After promising the launch of the first batch of Apple Silicon Macs, the company released updated MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini. The most interesting machine of three is the MacBook Air which packs a lot of performance for the starting price tag of $999. Also, students and people working in the field of education can avail the MacBook Air for $100 less.
The major debate surrounding the MacBook Air is whether people should get the base model with 8GB of RAM or bump up to 16GB of RAM. A high number of YouTubers have been testing and uploading their conclusions about the same. However, the judgements have been very polarizing with some saying 8GB is more than enough for Apple chips whereas others recommend 16GB.
Optimization at its best
To break it down, none of the tech YouTubers are wrong. The M1 chip appears to be extremely optimized for macOS Big Sur which has been rewritten for the Apple Silicon. Similar to how the iPhone and the iPad are able to run smoothly with less amount of memory compared to their Android counterparts, the M1 equipped Macs showcase the same efficiency.
Nonetheless, it’s too early to say how the M1 Macs will perform when all/most apps have been reworked for the new ARM64 platform. But taking into consideration all the testing that has been done this past month, it’s suffice to say that 8GB of RAM is more than enough for tasks like web browsing, 4K video editing, streaming, coding, and a lot more.
Also, the 8GB RAM version of the MacBook Air can handle almost anything that requires more memory by using swap memory. It’s not a new concept, it’s used in all Intel Macs, Windows PCs, and other OSes as well. In the case of low RAM, the operating system will use the SSD (HDD in older machines) for storing the temporary files.
So the conclusion is that if you can afford the 16GB RAM version of the MacBook Air, buy it. The 8GB RAM version will also fly without any hiccups but it may not be a good thing in the long run as it has been reported that swap memory could degrade the SSD overtime.
